Le Charme Sukhothai Resort, Thailand

Our hotel for the trip to Sukhothai, Thailand was at Le Charme Sukhothai. We stayed there in early December 2012. The main reason for choosing this hotel was due to its close proximity to the ancient site and good reviews obtained.

One thing for sure about this hotel is the greens and also the water features. This gives a very relaxed feeling to the place. The rooms are basic which was a little disappointing but it was clean and comfortable.

As you can see from the photos below, it set in very natural surrounding. it's only about less than 2 km from the ancient sites and one can rent a bicycle for the day and cycle around which is quite fun.

The hotel service was quite good. Breakfast is a set menu if room occupancy is low and buffett when it quite full. The breakfast is quite basic but good enough. You have a choice of American or Thai.

We also ate at the restaurant and it was quite good actually. Prices is reasonable when compared to Bangkok and of course higher than the outside stall or shops.

Internet was free and was really fast in the morning. However, they had some problems with the router a few times when we were there.

It was also the King's Birthday when we were there and I could follow the celebrations from the live events on TV. There were huge crowds turning up to greet their beloved King. Celebrations were also held in all cities, towns and villagers all over the country including, here. It was simply amazing.

Overall, it was a nice place to stay and we got the rooms at good prices too. The hotel has their won website at http://www.lecharmesukhothai.com/.

Until the next time, cheers.

Chaam Beach in Thailand (near Hua Hin)

Chaam is located just before Hua Hin but it is the lesser known (to foreigners) sister beach to Hua Hin. However, this makes the place less crowded and less expensive....hehehe.

As in many public beaches in Thailand, there will be lots of canopy where you would have to pay a charge but you can sit for the whole day. There will be lots of vendors selling food and also stalls cooking food for you. So, we went to the main public beach in Chaam one afternoon.

Nice shade from the heat

Lots of place to sit.

Plenty of sea sports. One can rent floats too.

One of the food vendors

There were vendors selling fried prawns, squids, mussells, fish, papaya salad, etc. You can also order all types of Thai dishes including fried rice, pork, vegetables,.etc.

All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the food.

We tried this "cracker" but does not taste good. It's huge though.

The boys had to go on the banana boat ride and float and they had a lot of fun....

It's a good way to spend half a day or even a full day. One can find the same system at all beaches in Thailand. Some of them are popular with certain tourists for example, there is a more secluded beach in Pattaya popular with Swedes and another area with Germans. I suppose it's by word of mouth. The good thing is the locals can speak some of this language.

Nearby this public beach, on the main road,the most popular dish seems to be roast pork. Almost all the shops sell this and the pig is roasting by the road. So, we had to try this.

We stopped at one of the shop and ordered some simple lunch.....

Roast pork

Fried rice

Som tam, papaya salad

Fish spicy soup...

The food was good and cheap....ah...a good holiday. What more can you ask for....

Until the next time, cheers.

Bangkok lights in December

In December every year, the city not only lights up for the purpose of Christmas, albeit for commercial reasons only but also to celebrate the birthday of their beloved King of Thailand. One of the nice malls decorated is the Promenade Mall adjacent to Fashion Island. The mall is located on Ramintra Road. The mall is not very large but is an upscale shopping.

Nice water fountain

Beautifully lit up

Beautiful huge tree

Christmas decorations

The building is also nicely lit.

Another view of the tree

This tree is located at CDC along Ramintra Road also. The place is a one stop centre for home renovation products but also houses many restaurants and pubs.

Tree at CDC

The following trees are from Central World or World Trade Centre in Rajprasong area in central Bangkok.

The city areas are also lit up gaily for the season.

In old Bangkok area

Near Chinatown, Yaowarat

Near Khao San Road

Near the grand palace area

Beautifully lit up road

Heavy traffic though

So, it's actually quite nice just to drive at night to enjoy the lights although the traffic can be quite heavy. You have to avoid the peak times and maybe do it at around 9 pm would be the best.

Until the next time, cheers.

Madrid's Royal Palace and Cathedral

The Royal Palace of Madrid is one of the must see places in Madrid. We visited the palace on a very cold and rainy morning. We took the subway and then a leisurely 10 minutes walk, we are at the palace gate.

Security was very tight though but it was worth it. The audio guide was full of interesting information but it was very unfortunate that no photography was allowed.

Surrounding area

Outside the palace area

Outside the palace area

Approaching the palace

Approaching the palace

The back of the palace

The side gate of the palace.

The main gate of the palace

There are beautiful rooms decorated in different styles. One could compare this place with the Schonbunn Palace in Vienna. There are also collections of very nice paintings, ceramics and also very valuable Stradivarius violins.The royal pharmacy was also very interesting. The royal chapel was also very beautiful.

If one would like more details and photos of the interior of the palace, Wikipedia does provide quite detailed explanation. Lots of photos are also available from the internet.

We also visited theAlmudena cathedral was built next to the Spanish Royal Palace and was completed in time for the wedding of the Spanish Princess in 1993. It took nearly 100 years to finish the church.

Until the next time, cheers.